The world may be active, but you the GM should appear to be passive. You’re not killing the party, the dire wolf is. It’s not you, it’s the world. Encourage the players to take action, but leave the choices up to them. Rolling dice in the open helps a lot. The sandbox game really demands that you remain neutral about what the players do. It’s their decisions that will get them killed or grant them fame and victory, not yours. That’s the whole idea.
Все-таки DW-шная структура рассчитана на то, чтобы сделать приключение и сложности из ЛЮБЫХ действий игроков.
Да и описание поселения, как правило, сводится к нескольким строчкам, ключевым NPC и имеющимся сервисам.